We’re just back in from trick-or-treating .

It’s been a good day.. not the day I expected, bit a good day

nonetheless. I had a ton of stuff planned, but this mornign I got a

call from Herb at the Haunted Forest, .. the Pumpkin King aka

‘Project-x’, hadn’t been tied down properly and blew over in a high

wind gust at last night’s performance. Luckily, no one was hurt.. but

you couldn’t say that for the pumpkin, he’s head had beenn early 

knocked off, his fingers were all broken, and arm was dislocated and

the wires were all ripped up.. Worse.. his whole 20 feet was lying

horizontal on the ground. Homer got there around 11 and I got there a

little later..they took off his head.. homer worked on the arm while I

redid the electronics and repaired the jaw. . Herb repaired the fingers

It was a mess !

By

about 1 we had the whole guy back together again and completly

working.. I couldn’t beeive it. Homer is a mechanical genius…

As

I was packign up, a couple of parent visitors to the forest recognized

me from the show.. so I grabbed a picture.. . I was id’ed 4 times

today..  It still happens every time I go out in public  I love talking

to folks about the show.

During

the afternoon, Sam M came over and interviewed us for a journalism

class she’s taking. She’s doing a paper on ‘folks who overdo

Halloween’.. and she thought of us.. The funny thing is.. with the

party being last week, we weren’t too motivated to go out tonight. Gabe

was going out with his friends… but they don’t need us tagging along.

So… it looked like it would be the first time I hadn’t gone out trick

or treating for the past 20 years…..

I

dropped Gabe and his friends off.. then had to drop Kristen’s bag at

friend Scouts’.. I ended up trick or treating by myself at Scout’s

house….   and realized I wasn’t old enough to skip trick or treating

yet.. I zoomed back home

..

and Diane and I whipped together a costume .. We tied ropes between our

arms and clothes pinned on a bunch of old clothes.. We came as a

clothesline… or ‘airing our dirty laundry’.. in recognition of our

towns bizarre and amusing politics of late…

Wouldn’t you know that as soon as we got out of the car in town we ran into Gabe and co..

We

did our normal rounds, first down Bridge street .. with a stop in to

see Marvin and Bridge Street.. Half the town was in there…

We ran into Chris K as ‘iron man’

Then we headed down pleasant street to see Gretch’ , Marshall and Ben and have one of their traditional cider doughnuts.

We

then wandered round town, running into old friends and reliving those

decades of carrying kids. repairing costumes and eating the candy that

the kids didn’t like I can remember so, so many of those Halloweens in

Richmond.. It’s got to be one of my favorite things abotu living in a

small town like this.. I love our town.

I love our memories.. Happy Halloween folks.. happy Halloween Sam..  Trick or treat !
-me